Robert L. Wolke - What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions

Newton discovered three laws of motion
but he never considered these:

Why do we drive on the right? Why are cloverleaf intersections so complex? Can Earth's orbit be changed if a billion people jump at the same time? Can jumping up at the last instant save you in a falling elevator? Where does the rubber go when a tire wears out? Can a bullet fired into the air come down and kill somebody? Why does the Lone Ranger use silver bullets? What really keeps an airplane up? Are astronauts weightless? If you drive your car faster than the speed of sound, can you hear the radio? And more.

Seeing is believing
but not until we understand what we see.

What makes Day-Glo colors so bright? Why is snow white? Why are there two sets of primary colors? How do fluorescent and halogen lamps work? Why do mirrors seem to reverse left and right, but not top and bottom? Why do stagecoach wheels appear to turn backward? Why do wet things look darker? Why is glass transparent? Why do WintOGreen Life Savers make sparks? And more.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the universe
because heat is the ultimate form of energy.

Is 100 degrees twice as hot as 50 degrees? What is temperature, anyway? How cold can it get? Why is the bathroom floor so cold on your bare feet? How hot can it get? How does a flame know which way is up? Why is a candle flame tapered at the top? Could we counteract global warming by turning on all our air conditioners? What's so dangerous about high voltage? Why doesn't it rain dead sparrows? And more.

O happy Earth, whereon thy innocent feet do ever tread! SPENSER
And thy innocent mind doth ever strive to understand.

Why does Earth pull everything toward its exact center? How does hot air defy gravity by rising? If hot air rises, why is it colder in the mountains? Does it ever get too cold to snow? If Earth is spinning so fast, why don't we fly off? Can the astronauts see Earth turning beneath them? Would a polar bear weigh less at the equator? Do toilets flush counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere? Can you stand an egg on end during the vernal equinox? Why is nuclear energy unique on Earth? How does radiocarbon dating work? And more.

These earthly godfathers of heaven's lights
That give a name to every fixed star
Have no more profit of their shining nights
Than those who walk and know not what they are.

SHAKESPEARE
Sorry to disagree with you, Will, but it's much more fun if you know what they are. The air, the sky, the moon and the stars are all up there for us to comprehend.

How do odors find your nose? Can you operate a vacuum cleaner in a vacuum? Why does a lion tamer's whip make such a loud crack? What is the sound barrier made of? Why does thunder sound the way it does? Why is the moon so much bigger when it's near the horizon? Why do the stars twinkle? How does the moon keep one side always facing Earth? How do the oceans' tides work? Does the moon ever turn blue? Why is it cold in spaceor is it? And more.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think. WOLKE
We humans, however, can ponder the remarkable properties of the most abundant chemical on Earth.

What color is water? Why are the oceans blue? And salty? Precisely where is sea level? Why does spilled coffee dry to a ring? Why does your shower curtain cling to you? Where do your socks go when they disappear in the laundry? What's the most expensive ingredient in laundry detergents? (Advertising.) Is glass a liquid? What makes ice cubes cloudy? If the humidity got to be 100 percent, would we drown? How can you clear your fogged-up windshield? Can a farmer smell rain? And more.

He who dies with the most stuff wins. YUPPIE PHILOSOPHY
We have surrounded ourselves with hundreds of material things that we use but may not really understand.

Are airplanes safe? How does an eraser erase? Why does rubber stretch? Why are cars noisy? Why do clothes wrinkle? How does a skateboard work? What happens when you shake a bottle of soda? Can you get electricity out of a lemon? Are smoke alarms radioactive? Can fertilizer explode? How do sailors keep clean? If you stopped dusting, how long would it take to be buried in dust? Can you unburn a match? And more.